Gilman and Gender inequalities. Blog # 5

Gilman was a pioneer in the field of speaking on gender inequalities especially for those of women. Considered a humanist, Gilman brought about the argument that the role of women in society was archaic and dated. No longer in a prehistoric setting, Gilman argued that gender changes were necessary for women to become autonomous.

In the video we saw in class about women’s roles in society, I found it ironic that women are completely divided when it comes to what kind of agenda they wish to push. For instance, some feminists push for independent work and equal treatment of men, but in the video, we clearly see that the goal of some working women are to live a lavish life in which they don’t have to work. This paradox of wanting autonomy but at the same time yielding it creates an issue with gender inequality because of its split agendas.

I feel in order to complete their individual agendas, there should be two parties of feminists that fight for different reasons. If one party represented the upper class feminists and one party represented new wave feminists, both parties could benefit from a united in their efforts to fight for their agendas.

2 responses to “Gilman and Gender inequalities. Blog # 5”

I feel as though above all women just want the right to be independent. But even though it might be ironic that some women don’t want to work it doesn’t necessarily mean that they all do not want the right to be successful. I think in general everyone wants to live a lavish life without having to lift a finger. So those women who work for a living, wish they didn’t have to because they may work hard for not enough pay. There are also those who don’t work or do not have a successful job wished they did, so they are fighting for independent work and equality. So I fully understand why you mentioned how there should be two feminists that fight for different reasons. They may come from two different backgrounds and have different reasons as to which position they agree with. So both ideas should be heard.

Gilman talks about women’s economic dependence by pointing out that women were dependent from their husbands and families and that their roles were as caregivers, housekeeping, wives, etc., actually doing more work than their husband and receiving less from them. Gilman brought this concept to let women know that they needed to make a living, go out and and not depend on men. Today we still see gender inequality specially in income and wealth but now is not as it was before.